Book Trade; Phew – 8 weeks that started the year

This list documents extraordinary activity in the wider Book Trade in a few short weeks;

• UK book sales fell 3% in 2010, selling £56m less than in 2009
• NIV Bible eBook tops the USA bestseller list over the New Year
• 2011 marks the 400^th anniversary of the King James Bible
• Barnes & Noble USA do well over Christmas – thanks to their Nook eReader
• Physical book sales continue to decline around the world
• British Bookshops and Stationers go into administration
• eBook debate intensifies – but with little clarity emerging
• Digital Book World Conference is held in New York
• Kindle; the most popular eBook reader – with sales overtaking paperbacks
• Amazon record their first £10bn sales quarter
• Waterstones owner HMV; shuts 11 UK stores, cuts HO jobs
• WH Smith buy 22 British Bookshops and Stationers stores
• UK Libraries under massive pressure due to imminent spending cuts
• Borders USA enters Chapter 11 – and is effectively bankrupt
• REDgroup Australia goes bust – leaving big UK debts
• Borders Singapore shuts its doors
• Zondervan loses its President and CEO, Moe Girkins
• Gardners launches the HIVE website in the UK
• STL Distribution UK rebrands as Trust Media Distribution
• Living Oasis has its ups and downs, causing uncertainty

Only another 10 months left for this year – don’t hold your breath!

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